Several years ago I served in our church’s MOPS leadership, and my title? Prayer coordinator. I was asked to lead our leadership team in this key area, and I was happy to do it.

And while the year went well, I had not always had such a passion and eagerness for prayer.

Just ten years earlier I questioned God.

What was prayer?

And why was it necessary at all?

After all, if God is…

omniscient–complete in knowing all my thoughts,

omnipresent–with me wherever I go,

and all-powerful—capable of doing anything He wanted…

Why should small me, need to ask anything of Him?

Why pray?

So I bought a book to investigate the answers and I started to pray anyway—to just talk to God, sometimes journaling to Him, and see what happened.

And through the process of reading and experiencing, I began to understand that prayer was mostly for me … Because God already knows my longings and desires. He already knows the choices I will make and the outcomes there will be. And the process of prayer ended up being less about unlocking God’s power and more about changing my heart.

Prayer creates heart change. It’s more for us than for Him because over time it changes us into who He wants us to be—if we let Him.

Because there are dangers when we pray.

And Jesus warns of them in Matthew 6—the danger of our tendency to make prayer more about us than about Him.

Matthew 6:5-13 (ESV)

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

When we are first beginning to practice prayer, there’s a tendency to be pre-occupied with trying to say just the right words—concerned about maintaining just the right posture so we can please Him and others who are listening. But God is not concerned about our finesse.

God adores us as a Father adores his children, and He longs for prayer to be a point of connection between us—a time to spend together, for us to know Him more. And He longs to bless us more than we can even imagine.

”If we only realized that we are indeed His children and that whenever we pray it is like a child going to its father! He knows all about us; He knows every need before we tell Him…He desires to bless us very much more than we desire to be blessed.”

~M. Lloyd-Jones

God doesn’t want us to come to him and pray out of obligation or ritual or liturgy. He already knows us, and wants us to know Him.

But so often we don’t pray because we have this notion it needs to be a formal appointment, with proper words, spoken in particular ways. And because we don’t have the time, or fear we don’t have the right technique to communicate with God, we simply don’t spend time with Him at all.

“Prayer is ultimately a talk, a conversation, a communion with my Father; and one does not address on whom one loves in this perfect, polished manner, paying attention to phrases and the words and all the rest. There is surely something essentially spontaneous about true communion and fellowship.”

~M. Lloyd-Jones

But even as I grew through that first danger, I then faced the next one head on. Jesus knew when we pray, we have a tendency to focus on ourselves instead of Him … longing to appear extra-spiritual before others.

And I am guilty as charged.

Although I was growing in maturity and valued prayer, I must admit … I liked being known as one who prayed well. I felt respected. I knew I mattered. It fed my ego.

And THAT is wrong. THAT makes prayer about me, not Him.

And it should be ALL about Him.

We should pray to connect with God, not to be heard by others. Not for them to think how eloquent or beautifully we pray.

I’ve had people compliment me when I pray … and I’ve said “Thank you”, and walked away feeling pretty good about myself.

O Lord, I’m so sorry … please forgive me.

Forgive me for my heaped-up-Gentile-words. Forgive me for caring what others think. Forgive me for not focusing my mind’s attention solely on You in the moments my lips were praying.

Guilty.

I’m guilty, are you?

We should come to the place that a compliment about our prayer turns our stomach—that our hearts would come to reject such words. To do otherwise removes the focus from Him.

Prayer is not for getting something FROM God, it’s for spending time WITH God.

In secret.

Alone.

With few words and a sincere heart.

And He already knows what we need before we even ask Him. What a comfort that is!

Prayer is the practice of surrender to a relationship, not engaging in a transaction.

As we pray, may we lay down our pretenses and worries, and lay down our anxieties of being just right. As we pray, may we focus on Him at all times, and may we be changed, is my prayer.

Jacque

How is prayer challenging for you?

What danger regarding prayer have you been guilty of?

Continuing on in memorizing the Sermon on the Mount, with Ann and this community. Join us?

{WEEK 28}

Matthew 6:14-15 (ESV)

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will you Father forgive your trespasses.

f i y f o t t y h f w a f y b i y d n f o t t n w y f f y t

Other posts in this series:

~Memorizing the Sermon on the Mount

~For When You Want to Know How to Really Teach {Week 1}

~For When You Need to Quit Performing to Earn God’s Love {Week 2}

~When You Long to be Satisfied and Supremely Happy {Week 3}

~For When Memorizing is Intimidating and Change is a Challenge {Week 4}

~For When You Don’t Fit in and You’re Not Feeling Accepted {Week 5}

~Because You Are Meant to BE the Flavor {Week 6}

~We ARE the Light of the World {Week 7}

~All Has Been Accomplished! The New Covenant Has Come {Week 8}

~For When You Think It’s Only About Following the Rules {Week 9}

~Because It’s All About the Illustrations & Their Principles {Week 10}